


Shipping Lanes

by EvergreenLaurel



Series: Breaking the Laws of Attraction [5]
Category: Scorpion (TV 2014)
Genre: Addiction, Baseball, Bonding, Confused Puppy Tim, Crack, F/M, Family, Gen, MS - Freeform, Male Bonding, Marriage, Romance, Waltcon, Walter Rabbit Hole, father - Freeform, rare pairs, sorry about this, strange ships
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-18
Updated: 2018-01-09
Packaged: 2019-01-19 02:23:10
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 13,932
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12401148
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/EvergreenLaurel/pseuds/EvergreenLaurel
Summary: The collection of rare pairings that you never wanted because they are very bad ideas.Chapter 5: Shipwreck. The implosive conclusion that pulls all the ships together into a giant Walter-shaped wreck.





	1. First Ship

**Author's Note:**

> I've messed with the timeline a bit for this series. It takes place after Drew makes his appearance but right before Tim shows up. I kinda compress the timeline. Important points: Happy and Toby are together. Walter and Paige are not. Drew just got his Portland offer. Tim is about to show up. Megan is alive but hasn't met Sly yet.
> 
> This one is probably the most normal and believable of all the pairings in this series. It helps if you just pretend that Walter doesn't exist.

Paige couldn’t believe what she was hearing. She leaned forward and closed her eyes in concentration. “Repeat that, please.”

“I turned down the job in Portland. I’m staying here,” Drew’s voice was steady and sure, and Paige began to wonder if she could believe that he was serious this time.

“But why?” Baseball was Drew’s life. He had come back to L.A. because he was ‘washed up’. He had a chance to get back into the game now—why would he turn that down?

“Paige,” Drew looked earnestly at her from across the table of the small diner they sat in. He had requested to talk to her alone at her earliest convenience and this meat-and-three during her lunch break was the best she could do without having Ralph around. She understood now why he insisted on doing this away from the garage. Paige took a deep breath and tried to focus on what Drew was saying. “The biggest mistake I’ve ever made in my life was leaving you and Ralph. No career, no opportunity is as important as you two are, and I see that now.” Drew leaned back a little and bit the corner of his mouth in the way that Paige knew meant he was feeling really guilty. “I don’t expect you to forgive me quickly. But for as long as you’ll let me, I’ll be here for you and Ralph.”

“In L.A.?” Paige searched Drew’s eyes, hoping beyond all hope that he was committed this time. That he wasn’t going to try to drag them off to the next great ‘adventure’ that meant he could follow his dreams and they were stuck just following him.

“Yes,” Drew nodded, looking desperate for her to believe him. “I can see that this is the best place for Ralph. Where else are you going to find four geniuses dedicated to make sure he reaches his potential? But I want you to know that I will go wherever you decide is best, Paige. I’m here as long as you’ll let me be,” He repeated.

Paige let out a breath that she didn’t know she’d been holding, “I really want to believe you, Drew.”

Drew reached into his back pocket and pulled out a folded piece of paper, passing it across the table. “Maybe this will help.”

Paige looked skeptically at Drew and slowly opened the sheet of paper. When she saw its contents her eyebrows flew up, “You got a job? At an accounting firm?” She looked up from the paper. “Since when are you an accountant?”

Drew gave a half-smile, “If you remember, that’s what I was studying when we met. It took a lot of years of night classes, but I finished my degree about six months ago. I’m a CPA now, with a steady job just five minutes from Ralph’s school—even in L.A. traffic. I’m serious, Paige. You don’t have to do this alone anymore.”

Paige closed her eyes and leaned back in her chair. This was all she had wanted for years after Drew left. But she hadn’t gotten it and had learned to deal. Had learned to take care of herself and Ralph on her own. As nice of a thought as it was to finally have help, she knew she didn’t need Drew. But maybe Ralph did. She opened her eyes. “You can’t leave Ralph again. You can’t even think of it.”

“Never,” He had never looked more certain than he looked right then. “I fired my agent; I’m done with baseball. You and Ralph are the most important thing in my life. I’ve already looked into how I could get involved with his activities. I can help chaperone field trips, pick him up from school as often as you’d like, pay for summer camp. I was part of Forestry Braves when I was a kid, I know all about it.” He stopped for a moment as sadness clouded his expression. “Paige, I missed so much and I know that it’s my fault. I don’t deserve to be in your lives but, if you’ll allow it, I want to try my best to make up for lost time.”

Paige’s vision became a little blurry as she blinked away the tears forming in her eyes. It had been so long since she had ever dared to hope for Ralph’s father to say those words. She still didn’t fully believe him; words were cheap, actions were harder. But this, this was an excellent first step. If Drew’s heart was really where he said it was… this could be amazing for Ralph. Being surrounded by geniuses was great, but having your father in, and involved in, your life was beneficial in ways that couldn’t be quantified. If there was a chance that Paige could give Ralph two dedicated parents, she owed it to him to try. Tentatively, she reached across the table and covered Drew’s hand with her own. “Okay, Drew. We can try.”

Paige could have sworn that Drew’s responding grin was brighter than the sun.

* * *

 “I’ve got a 24-pack of Shazz Active on top of the fridge,” Drew said as Paige followed him into his apartment.

“And the coil of rope?” She asked, dropping her purse on a couch. They were making a quick stop at Drew’s to pick up supplies before picking up Ralph from school for his Forestry Braves meeting that afternoon.

“Hallway chest-of-drawers,” Drew called from the kitchen.

Paige crossed the living room into the hallway, happily noting several pictures of Ralph, Drew, and occasionally her, on the walls. The past three months had been better than she could have imagined. Drew had not only kept his word, but gone above and beyond to make sure that she was completely comfortable and included with every new activity. Like Forestry Braves: although Drew was much more qualified to chaperone Ralph’s meetings and trips, he had quickly noticed Paige’s hesitance to lose that time with Ralph, and had suggested that it be something that they all did together. Ralph had initially been a bit unsure about having _both_ parents at his meetings but quickly warmed up to the idea when Drew became instantly popular with his friends and Paige was declared the Queen of Snacks. Speaking of snacks, “Hey, Drew, did you remember to pick up the fro-yo gift certificate for this afternoon?” Paige called, pulling the rope from the drawer and wrapping it around her shoulder.

“Uh, yeah,” She heard Drew call back. “I think it’s, um, in the top drawer of the wardrobe in my bedroom?”

Paige turned, opened the door to Drew’s bedroom, and looked around. She hadn’t been in the room before, but she wasn’t surprised to find it neat and orderly, just like Drew. Her heart warmed at the stack of books piled next to Drew’s bed, ‘Physics for Dummies’, ‘Coding for Dummies’, and ‘Astronomy for Dummies’ were just a few of the books he had bought in efforts to connect better with his son. If anyone had told her twelve years prior that the way to her heart would be through her son, she would have laughed. But watching Drew with Ralph the past few months had reignited feelings that she didn’t know were still possible. He was everything he was for her during her pregnancy and more. Attentive, kind, understanding, and yet still exciting. She didn’t like to let history dictate her future, but she had been through a lot with Drew and he still understood her in ways that she didn’t think anyone else could. He had made a lot of mistakes, that was for sure, but try as she might, Paige saw nothing of the man who abandoned her and Ralph in Drew today. If it was possible for anyone to change, then Drew had.

Paige shook herself out of her thoughts as she spotted the wardrobe in the corner of the room. Pulling open the top drawer, she began to shuffle through the contents. Receipts... loose change…. spare pens… wait—what? Paige’s hand met a box-like object covered with a few handkerchiefs. Curiosity got the better of her and she moved the cloth aside to reveal a battered jewelry box. What did Drew want with jewelry? Almost against her will, Paige opened the box to reveal a small diamond engagement ring with a delicate silver band. Her gasp caught in her throat when she heard Drew’s voice come from the doorway to his bedroom.

“Actually I found it in the...” Drew’s voice trailed off when he caught sight of Paige, the ring box in her hand. There was a moment of awkward silence before he spoke up, answering the shocked question in her eyes. “I bought it back when you first got pregnant with Ralph. Even through everything that happened, I could never bring myself to return it. I guess you never stop loving the love of your life.”

Paige’s hands trembled as she slowly closed the box and walked over to Drew, locking eyes with him as she invaded his space. Before she fully registered what she was doing, her hands locked around his neck and her lips touched his. He responded immediately, wrapping his arms around her back and tilting his head to kiss her more fully. Paige’s heart fluttered as she felt all the old familiar feelings of being back in his arms, but this time it was different. This time it felt wholly and completely _right_.

When they finally pulled away their eyes locked again and Paige found herself a little breathless. Drew leaned down to pick something up and Paige realized that she had dropped the ring box. His fingers toyed with the velvet a second before he looked up at Paige with a serious expression on his face.

“This is yours whenever you want it,” He spoke so low it was almost a whisper. “But I won’t push you, Paige. I love you and I always will, and I’m willing to wait as long as it takes for you to trust me again.”

Paige reached up to cup Drew’s cheek in her hand, “I trust you, Drew. I love you. But-” She swallowed hard and looked away. “Ralph--”

“Is the most important thing,” Drew finished for her, rubbing her arms with his hands. She looked back to see a smile on his face. “We won’t do a thing until he’s ready. This has to be good for _all_ of us.”

Paige grinned and pulled herself into Drew’s chest for a long hug. “Thank you, Drew.”

She felt Drew smile into her hair, “No thanks needed, love. None at all.”

* * *

“Ralph, finish your breakfast if you want to spend any time at the garage before school,” Paige called out of her bedroom as she finished curling her hair.

“Okay,” She heard Ralph’s resigned reply from the kitchen of their apartment followed by the scraping of a chair against the floor.

“And don’t forget that we’re going to the opening of the new wing of the Natural Science Museum this afternoon, okay, sweetie?” Paige reminded Ralph as she left her bedroom, fixing one of her earrings in her ear.

At this Ralph’s face lit up and he looked excited for the first time that morning. “Right. I almost forgot,” He shoved a large spoonful of cereal into his mouth as if eating breakfast quicker would make the afternoon arrive more speedily. Around his corn puffs he managed, “Is Dad coming?”

Paige’s hands stilled suddenly midway through reaching for a stack of paperwork; she turned on her heel, “Dad?” Ralph had never referred to Drew by anything but his name.

Ralph didn’t seem to notice her shock as he replied, “Yeah, he was telling me the other day about how cavemen threw their spears to catch prey, creating the first projectile weapons. I want to show him the exhibits in the east corridor before we see the new wing.” He took another big bite of cereal before asking. “So can he come?”

Paige decided that table manners lessons would happen at another time and handed Ralph a napkin to wipe of the milk dripping down his chin. “Of course he can come. But, Ralph, you’ve never called Drew ‘Dad’ before.”

Ralph shrugged and started to push his chair back to bring his now empty bowl to the sink. “I was thinking about it and since I call you ‘Mom’ it seemed appropriate to call him ‘Dad’. After all, we’re a family, right?”

Paige thought her smile would split her face, it was so big. “Yes, Ralph, we’re a family.” She paused a minute before touching Ralph’s shoulder to keep him from leaving his chair and slowly saying. “Ralph… how would you feel if this family… our family… became more official?” At the confused look on Ralph’s face, Paige decided to be blunt. “Ralph, how would you feel if your Dad and I got married?”

This time it was Ralph’s turn for a face-splitting smile. “Really? He’d be here all the time?” He asked, hope shining in his dark eyes.

Paige nodded, laughing a little. “Yes, he would.”

Ralph’s eyes went wide and eager, “How soon?”

“How soon?” Paige’s eyebrows wrinkled.

“Yeah,” Ralph replied impatiently, his hands bouncing on his knees. “How soon will you be married?”

Paige chuckled, “I’m not sure, sweetie. I’ll have to talk to your Dad.”

Paige laughed again when Ralph quickly found and delivered to her the phone.

 

Paige and Drew were married by the time Ralph went to bed that night.


	2. Tugboat

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Hey, Toby, can I talk to you for a minute?”

Toby yawned and propped his feet up on his desk. Coming into the garage on a Saturday wasn’t exactly his idea of fun, but Walter had insisted that they all be there to meet the new Homeland trainee as soon as possible, so now they all had to wait around while Walter went himself to pick up the man. “Control freak,” Toby muttered through another yawn, looking around for something decidedly non-work-related to occupy his time until Walter got back. Happy was working on some project he didn’t understand over at her work station and had one of those faces on that meant that distracting her would probably end up with some sort of pain his part. Sylvester was deep in the new issue of Super Fun Guy, his eyes darting excitedly over every page. Sly’s concentration was formidable—Toby wouldn’t be able to properly distract him at least for another thirty minutes. And Cabe—oh, yeah, Walter had sent Cabe out on some mysterious mission which Toby was 86% sure had something to do with Walter’s sister, Megan, whom he refused to talk about. So that just left….

“Ah-hah! Good morning!” Toby called, straightening up as Paige, Drew, and Ralph walked into the garage, all looking particularly chipper.

A chorus of “Good morning”s followed Toby’s greeting. He noted that Paige and Drew were standing particularly close that morning and kept stealing little glances at each other. Interesting, but there were more pressing matters at hand.

“Hey, Paige, how come you couldn’t convince Mr. 197 not to call us all in here on a Saturday? My weekends are sacred.”

Paige shrugged, “He was adamant that we meet this Tim Armstrong guy as soon as he got into town. Something about efficiency and team dynamics. Plus, coming in today isn’t _so_ bad.” At this she smiled over at Drew and ran a hand over Ralph’s hair. “C’mon, Ralph, let’s get you some breakfast.” She and Ralph started making their way to the kitchen.

“If your job is to keep morale up, I must inform you that my morale is tanking!” Toby called after Paige before he noticed that Drew had lingered and was looking at Toby like he wanted something. His eyebrow went up in a question for the baseball player.

“Hey, Toby, can I talk to you for a minute?” Drew finally asked, looking uncomfortable and strangely nervous.

Toby’s eyebrows lowered and crinkled. What could Mr. Big Jock have to say to him? Of all the people in the garage, Toby had made it the clearest that Drew was not his favorite person. Curiosity won out over distaste in the end, though, and he used his foot to pull a chair over to sit across from him. “Talk away.”

Drew slowly sat down and took a deep breath before starting, “It’s about Paige and Ralph.”

Toby’s eyebrows rose mockingly, “You don’t say, I thought you were going to ask me about batting averages.”

Drew ignored Toby’s tone and plunged on, “As you know, Paige, Ralph, and I have been getting a lot closer.”

“Yep, it doesn’t take the world’s best psychiatrist to notice that.”

“These past few months have been amazing. Coming to L.A. was the best decision I ever made.”

“Well, I sure am glad that coming back to the son you abandoned is improving _your_ life,” Toby spat, bitingly. It was just too early in the morning to try to play nice.

Drew paused and looked at Toby, unimpressed. “You know that’s not what I meant. Contrary to popular belief, I’m not an idiot. I know that I don’t deserve Paige or Ralph. But by some stroke of good fortune, I have them and I would be much more than an idiot to do anything to mess this up. I spent my whole life being so selfish—I don’t want to be selfish anymore. I owe Paige and Ralph everything I have.”

Toby adjusted his hat on his head and sighed. At least Drew was trying. “Ok, fine. Go on.”

Drew leaned forward, his forearms on his thighs as he looked earnestly at Toby. “But in order to give Paige and Ralph everything, I need help. Baseball was… _is_ an addiction. The thrill of the pitch, the roar of the crowd, the rush of striking someone out—I still crave those feelings. As wonderful as it is to have Paige and Ralph back in my life, I can’t get rid of the call of baseball. It made me feel alive.”

“Endorphin rush. I know it well.” Toby swallowed hard. As much as he disliked Drew, the similarities between Drew’s baseball addiction and his gambling addiction were too stark to ignore. Almost involuntarily his eyes flicked across the garage to Happy as she worked. He had promised her never to gamble again, and, despite all her help, he knew very well how hard it was to quit something cold turkey.

“Right… Endorphin rush.” Drew looked confused a the new term but shrugged it off. “But I want Paige and Ralph more. I do. Problem is, I won’t always notice if I start slipping. I’ve given this a lot of thought and, Toby, I think you’re the best person to help me.”

Toby leaned back in his chair and squinted skeptically at the man, “What do you want me to do?”

“It’s no secret that you don’t like me.”

Toby nodded, “Fair.”

“It’s also clear that you are definitely the most perceptive person in Scorpion. You notice everything about people.”

“Also true.”

“So I need you to hold me accountable. You’ll notice if I start to slip, if I start looking a little too long at a baseball glove, if I get distracted from the most important thing my life—Paige and Ralph. And,” Drew added with a little smile. “You don’t like me so you won’t pull punches when you stop me.”

Toby couldn’t help but crack a smile. For a normal, Drew had really thought this out. “Okay, but we’ve already established that I don’t like you. Why would I help you stay?”

Drew looked seriously at Toby, “Because you care about Paige and Ralph and me slipping up would hurt them. And because,” He reached into his pocket, pulled out a gold band, and slipped it on his left hand. “I’m not going anywhere.”

Toby’s eyes widened at the ring and he jumped a little in his chair as he leaned forward to inspect it. “You and Paige--”

“Got married last night,” Drew said quietly, motioning for Toby to keep his voice down. “It just seemed right. Ralph was really into it or we wouldn’t have done it at all.”

“Why the secrecy?”

Drew pulled the ring off his finger and slipped it back in his pocket. “Paige wanted to wait and tell everyone at once. We’ll announce it when Walter and Cabe get here.”

Toby blew out a long breath and leaned back in his office chair. “Well, that changes things. Married. Walter’s going to be mad.”

Drew sighed, “I know.”

“But what’s done is done,” Toby tilted his head to the side, thinking. After a moment he leaned forward and clapped Drew on the shoulder. “Okay, Andrew, it’s your lucky day. I’ll help you. But not for you. Paige and Ralph deserve better and I’ll be darned if I don’t do all I can to help give it to them.”

Relief flooded Drew’s features, “Thanks, man. And I’m serious: don’t go easy on me.”

“I won’t,” Toby nodded, then added as Drew stood up to leave, “Hey, Drew. This is a good thing you’re doing: breaking your addiction for someone you love.” Again Toby’s eyes drifted over to Happy and a small smile played across his lips. “It’s worth it.”

Drew’s gaze followed Toby’s over to where Happy was working and then turned to look at Paige serving Ralph his breakfast. “It sure is.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Trying to make Drew likable is almost physically painful. Next chapter at least doesn't contain him at all! It's painful for other reasons. I'm sorry.


	3. Canoe

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Please, let me have one part of my life that is not dictated by time."

Megan did her best to stretch her legs out in front of her as she waited for her brother to arrive. He had promised to bring her some new stargazing books to keep her company in her small room at the rehabilitation center. Yawning, she wondered why he had chosen so early to bring her the books. It was a Saturday, after all, and he was supposed to have the day off. _Well, I guess I can ask him myself,_ She thought as she saw the nurse go to fetch her visitor. When the door opened into the lounge, though, Megan’s eyebrows flew up.

“Cabe!”

Cabe gave her a sheepish smile and adjusted a small stack of books under his arm as he made his way over to where she was sitting. “Walter insisted on going to pick up our new homeland trainee himself so he asked me if I could come run these by,” He explained, taking a seat across from hers and handing her the stack.

Megan rolled her eyes good-naturedly. “My brother the control freak.” She looked back up at Cabe with a grin. “I don’t mind seeing you, though. And, hey, when do I get my proper greeting?”

Cabe smiled and leaned over to give Megan a peck on the lips. She loved how gentle he was and how kindly he looked at her when he pulled away, but this time she caught a flicker of doubt in his eyes as he leaned back into his chair.

“Hey, now, what’s bothering you?” Megan asked, grabbing the man’s hand which lay tensely on his knee.

“Megan,” He began slowly. “You know how much I care about you. But I can’t help but feel a bit uneasy about this thing we’re doing here.”

Megan sighed and smiled. This was nothing new. When Walter had first started sending Cabe on the occasional errand to the rehabilitation center he had very respectfully kept his distance. She was the one who pursued a closer relationship. He had always been a symbol of strength and kindness in her life and, frankly, she found that extremely attractive. So things progressed slowly, but they had progressed and Megan was going to be darned if she let his doubts about the “appropriateness” of their relationship get in the way of the best thing in her life. “Okay, Cabe, what’s the problem this time?”

The man bristled a little at her longsuffering tone but went on, “Well, for starters, I’m a good 30 years older than you are, young lady.”

Megan blinked. They had kind of already had this conversation at the beginning but, at her easy acceptance of the age difference, Cabe seemed to have calmed long ago. Thinking for a moment she bit her lip and looked hard at the man, “Cabe, everything in my life is about time. How much time until I’m confined to a wheelchair, how much time until this medication kicks in, how much time since my last physical therapy appointment, how much time until I lose the ability to breathe on my own, how much time do I have left. My whole world is made up of constant reminders about time and years, months, days. Please, let me have one part of my life that is not dictated by time. I don’t care.” With a wry look on her face Megan added, “And, anyway, if you measure it by how much time we have left instead of how much time we’ve lived, I think I’ve got you beat, Cabe.”

“Hey now,” Cabe reached out to rub Megan’s shoulder, any trace of his own insecurities gone in a second. “We don’t know that. You’re the strongest woman I’ve ever met. If anyone can beat this, you can.”

Megan smiled sadly, “I’m not sure anyone can, Cabe. MS is pretty relentless.”

Cabe looked seriously at her, “So are you. I may not know as much as Walter about new studies and probabilities, but I’ve seen people defy incredible odds because they just wouldn’t give up. And you, Megan, are a fighter.”

Megan stared at Cabe for a moment then finally nodded. “Thanks. I needed that.”

Cabe squeezed her hand, “That’s why I’m here, darling.”

Megan brought her other hand over to encapsulate Cabe’s hand in her own, “And that’s why I love you. So I did I answer all your uneasiness?”

Cabe’s smile faltered, “Well, I’ve been thinking about Walter lately….”

Megan rolled her eyes. This one was an old topic. They hadn’t told her brother yet. **“** Walter can deal. It’s my life, not his.”

“You’re right. Your happiness is more important than his comfort. But I’m pretty sure his head is going to explode when he finds out.”

Meg shrugged one of her shoulders and let out a small laugh, “It will take some adjusting, but I’m glad you brought it up. I think it’s time that I talk to him. I’m pretty sure he’ll take it better from me than from you.” She squeezed his hand. “It’s going to be fine, Cabe. Promise.”

At this he smiled and tucked a bit of hair behind her ear before leaning forward and kissing her again, “I love you, Megan.”

Megan laughed, “I love you too, Cabe. Now, I think we’ve wasted enough time thinking negative thoughts. What do you think of taking a look at these books with me?”

The warmth coming from the man as he smiled and scooted his chair to sit behind her made Megan’s heart swell in a way she didn’t know was possible.

“I think that’s a wonderful idea.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was definitely the most cringy thing I've ever written but I felt it had to be done. The next chapter turned out super long so I'm going to split it into two. Hopefully it'll get posted soon!


	4. First Mate

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Walter insists on being the one to pick up Tim on his first day.

Tim’s eyes shifted as he scanned the cars pulling through thehomeland building’s parking lot. He was told last minute that he wouldn’t be picked up by Scorpion’s assigned homeland agent, but instead by the head of the company himself. Having extensively researched the team and specifically requested to work with them, Tim couldn’t be happier about the new arrangement. Meeting the head genius right away was an exciting prospect. Catching sight of a car headed toward his position, Tim subconsciously straightened his shoulders and lifted his chin, ready for a truly interesting day.

The dark blue Chevrolet pulled to a stop in front of Tim and the passenger side window rolled down. A man with dark curly hair and piercing brown eyes peered out from the driver’s seat.

“Are you Tim Armstrong?”

“Yes, sir,” Tim replied immediately, feeling himself straighten further even as he curiously eyed his new boss. “You must be Walter O’Brien.”

“Correct,” Came the response. “Get in.”

Tim slid into his seat and Walter waited for him to close the door and click his seat belt before driving out of the parking lot and into what was, thankfully, light traffic for L.A..

“So,” Tim ventured after a good thirty seconds of silence. “I’ve heard a lot about your team. What you did saving that boy trapped underground at the beach was brilliant.”

“Thank you,” Walter eyed Tim briefly from the corner of his eye. “It was really just a matter of properly applied science.”

“Yes, but diving in after the boy, that took courage that even the most hard-nosed Navy Seal would call impressive,” Tim insisted. He had watched the newscast carefully and could only hope that, given the same situation, he would have done the same. “You should give yourself some credit.”

A muscle in the side of Walter’s face twitched in what Tim was almost certain was a fraction of a smile. “Ah, but I don’t feel fear.”

Tim raised an eyebrow, “You can’t be telling me that you dove into a dark hole with a high risk of being buried alive and you felt no fear at all.”

“Fear isn’t logical.”

“Maybe not,but it’s human.” When Walter didn’t respond Tim sighed and held up his hands in defeat. “Alright, whatever. But it’s still amazing what your team managed to accomplish.”

Walter nodded at this and his almost-smile was a little bigger this time. “It was.” He glanced over at Tim. “So tell me--”

All of a sudden Walter turned the steering wheel of the car sharply and quickly pulled to the emergency lane. It only took Tim a fraction of a second to see why. As soon as their car stopped, a red sports car ahead of them farther down the hill skidded on part of a stripped semi tire and slid into a blue van in the next lane, hitting the left front side so that it flipped, back over front. and skid towards the guardrail. A pick-up pulling a trailer collided into the second car further pinning it to the railing and sending the trailer crashing into the guardrail with a loud screeching noise.

“Holy-” Tim swiveled over to look at Walter. “How did you know that was going to happen?”

“I saw the hazard and calculated the speed and trajectory of the vehicles,” Walter said as they quickly unbuckled and hurried out of the car.

“Amazing,” Tim breathed, dialing 911 as they ran to the wreck to check on the drivers and passengers. In a crash that size, Tim was just hoping there were survivors to help.

They came upon the pick-up truck first: the driver had been thrown out of the front window and lay on the asphalt several yards away, groaning and holding his leg which bent at an unnatural angle. After assuring him that help was on the way, they continued on to the other two cars. The car that hit the highway debris, a red sports car, was still right side up but the back was crushed by the van’s engine.

“You take the sports car, I’ll check the van,” Walter called as they jogged over to the main part of the wreck.

“Copy that,” Tim called back and squatted next to the sports car. The car looked empty except for the driver, who was unconscious and leaning against the wheel. Careful not to move the man, Tim checked for a pulse and was gratified when he found a strong one. Likely, the man had a concussion and perhaps a broken collarbone but his chances of survival were good.

“Tim, status!” Walter’s voice was strained and Tim immediately moved around the sports car toward the van.

“He’s alive, but unconscious. I don’t think there’s anything we can do until the paramedics arrive. He should be stable until then,” Tim reported, stopping next to Walter who was on the ground, peering into the van.

“Good, because this is a problem,” Walter muttered.

Tim squatted down beside Walter next to the overturned van and immediately saw the problem. In the driver’s seat of the van was a middle-aged woman who was pinned to her seat by the steering wheel which had been pushed tight against her body by the collision with the pick-up. She was dazed but thankfully conscious.

“Ma’am, my name is Tim Armstrong and this is Walter O’Brien and we’re going to get you out of here,” Tim kept his voice low and steady while Walter poked his head around the van, obviously assessing the situation more fully.

The woman blinked. Her eyes focused a little at the sound of Tim’s voice and she looked at him confusedly for half a second before she screamed, “My babies!” and began struggling to turn around.

“You need to stay still,” Tim placed a hand on her shoulder as she wriggled around. “Are there children in the back?”

“Yes! My children! Tyler and Emily! Are they okay? Please save them!” The woman’s struggles became more violent.

Tim cursed under his breath as he tried to clear some of the debris so that he could see into the back. Sure enough, he spotted a car seat behind the driver’s seat and an adolescent boy crouched in a ball on the far side of the very back bench seat. The car seat was twisted so that he couldn’t see into it but he was just able to reach his hand around to feel the face, and then the pulse, of an infant. “Walter, we got children over here!”

Walter was next to him before Tim could take another breath. Above the woman’s hysterical screams, he shouted to Tim, “We’re going to need something to give us leverage to lift the car up so we can get to them. But first, we need to keep the woman calm.”

“On it,” Tim nodded and turned his attention to the woman who was beginning to sob. “Ma’am… ma’am, what’s your name?”

Between distraught sniffles she managed, “Sarah.”

“Okay, Sarah, your children are alive and we’re going to get you all out of here but we need you to stay calm. For Tyler and Emily,” Tim watched a tiny bit of relief flicker across the woman’s face as she nodded and her expression hardened into terrified determination. He had seen it many times on missions with the Navy Seals. People do what they have to do to keep those that they love alive, even if it means setting aside their own panic.

“Tim! I need you over here!” Walter called from the other side of the wreck and Tim gave Sarah one more reassuring smile and a “Hang tight” before walking around to where Walter was dismantling the trailer that was still attached to the pickup truck.

“We can use this central rod to lift up the van so that we can get to the baby’s car seat,” Walter explained and Tim moved immediately to help him pick up said rod and move it around to the other side of the wreck. “We just need something to act as a fulcrum.”

Tim looked around. By that time there were quite a few cars stopped behind them and people were starting to get out and head towards the crash. He heard sirens in the distance, so help couldn’t be too far away, but even emergency vehicles would have a difficult time getting through the traffic to the wreck. Tim’s eyes scanned over the mass of cars, trying to spot a possible leveraging point for their rod. A semi-truck was stopped a few cars back with some empty wire spools in the back; Tim grabbed Walter’s arm and pointed. “Would those work?”

“Perfect,” Walter said quickly and began running towards the truck. Tim ran after him, flashing his homeland badge at the truck driver before they managed to get what they needed off the truck.

Back at the van Tim cleaned broken glass from the backseat windows while Walter did calculations, muttering under his breath about force and load.

“Okay, Tim, we need to place the rod at precisely the right spot or we could end up breaking the axle instead of lifting it,” Walter said as they slowly moved the rod into place over the large empty spool.

“I’ll hold the rod, you check the placement,” Tim suggested as he began to put slight pressure on the other end of the rod to keep it away from the baby’s car seat.

“It’s good!” Walter called and hurried back over to help Tim push.

“I can do this myself, Walter,” Tim moved to keep Walter from starting to push. “You just get that baby out of there.”

Tim could feel Walter’s gaze go up and down his muscular body, doubtlessly trying to calculate if he was strong enough to handle the task. Apparently he was satisfied with what he saw because he gave a quick nod and went back to crouch next to the backseat of the car. “You have to exert exact pressure to keep the van from tipping. Don’t lift it more than three and a half inches. Now, Tim!” He called.

Tim heard the car groan as he pushed down on their make-shift lever, keeping a careful eye on the van and making sure he lifted exactly. Walter had been spot-on with his calculations—the floor of the car lifted as one piece and they gained enough headwayfor Walter to do some careful maneuvering to pull the infant out of the wreckage. Tim sighed a breath of relief when he spotted the baby starting to move and fuss in Walter’s arms.

Tim had barely noticed the siren’s getting louder but almost immediately after taking the child in his arms, Walter handed the baby girl to a paramedic and a well-meaning fireman came over to help Tim push down on the rod. Before Tim could get the full word “stop” out of his lips, the fireman pushed hard down on the rod and the van shuddered, suddenly becoming unstable just as Walter and a paramedic were adjusting Sarah’s seat to give her room to climb out.

“No!” Walter yelled as he grabbed Sarah by the arms and yanked her out just as the front of the van crashed forward, caving the ceiling of the driver’s seat and shooting the gearshift into the place where the woman had been sitting. “Idiot!” Walter yelled in Tim and the fireman’s direction.

The fireman looked at Tim, confused and frustrated. “What happened? And why is he giving orders? You civilians really should be leaving this to us, anyway.”

Tim narrowed his eyes, “Crouching over there is the man with the world’s fourth highest I.Q. and the only reason that we’ve saved anyone so far. And I’m with homeland,” Tim flashed his badge. “You just interrupted a very delicate operation. You’ll be taking orders from us until we say so.”

The fireman bristled a stepped away, obviously not happy with the new chain of command. Tim didn’t care. He turned to Walter. “What can we do now? The boy’s still back there.”

Walter didn’t take his eyes off the van as he continued to study the new scenario. “If we go through the back window—oh, no.” Walter’s eyes went wide and Tim hurried to his side to see what he was staring at.

“Oh, no,” Tim echoed as soon as he saw it. The extra pressure on the rod had plunged the end of the it into the floor of the van, bending one of the fuel lines to a breaking point. Fuel was now spilling towards the engine which was still sputtering. Stopping the leak wasn’t going to be an option because several more breaks caused by the rod were starting to leak further towards the engine, There was no way to plug them all in time. They had to get the boy out quick before the car literally blew up. “How much time do we have, Walt?”

Walter’s answer only took a second, “Two minutes and forty-five seconds.”

Tim’s brain began working in overdrive and he could tell that Walter’s had as well. In the past half-hour they had somehow forged a strange sort of bond so it felt completely natural when Walter started barking orders and Tim coordinated the other rescue personnel in response. Within a minute they had the back window cleared of glass. They used a strong chemical compound Walter mixed up from practically nothing as smelling salts to wake up the boy whose name Tim remembered was Tyler.

“Tyler, my name is Tim, how are you feeling?” Tim ventured as soon as the boy opened his eyes.

Tyler shifted a little before calling out weakly, “I’m really scared and my leg hurts. Where’s my mom?”

“Your mom’s fine; she’s looking forward to seeing you soon,” Tim tried to be reassuring and speak quickly at the same time.

“Can you move?” Walter asked, peering in next to Tim.

“A little,” The boy sniffled a little. “But I can’t get out—there’s no room.”

“There is,” Walter insisted. “But you’re going to have to trust us and you’re going to have to hurry. You need to put your legs under the seat and let us pull you out.”

“I can’t!” The boy began to sob so Tim elbowed Walter aside and tried again.

“Tyler, I promise you that this is going to work. Do you like action movies?”

“Yes,” came the weak reply.

“Imagine that you’re one of the heroes and you’ve been kidnapped by the bad guys. The only way to get away is to go through a tight tunnel. So you take a deep breath, put your feet into the tunnel and go,” Tim mentally checked the time and tried to keep his voice even. “Can you be an action hero today, Tyler?”

Tim heard Tyler take a deep breath and saw little legs peak out from under the seat. He and Walter barely had enough time to pull the boy free and run clear of the car before the gas reached the engine and the whole wreck burst into an explosion of flames. Shielding the boy with his body, Tim felt a rush of relief, felt the tension drain out of his body, and heard Walter’s sigh beside him. They locked eyes for a moment of victory and solidarity before emergency personnel whisked the boy away and started checking the two men for injury.

The next fifteen minutes were a matter of recounting the accident to the police and catching their breath. Walter sent a text to his project manager to inform her of their delay. Thankfully, they were not unacceptably dirty from their activities so they went ahead and trekked back up the hill to the car and made their way towards the garage again.

“Wow, I didn’t think I’d go on the job so quickly,” Tim commented once they were past the remains of the accident.

“Scorpion helps whenever it can,” Walter replied, his eyes on the road.

“If you hadn’t noticed those cars about to crash, we would have been the ones needing help. I don’t know anyone who could spot something like that so quickly.”

Walter shrugged, “Simple math.” He paused a moment then glanced over at Tim. “Your skills were useful today. You were effective at keeping everyone calm—Paige normally does that.”

“Paige… your project manager?” Tim inquired. He vaguely remembered Cabe mentioning her.

“Yes,” Walter nodded, a little smile on his face.

“She sounds like an important part of the team,” Tim eyed Walter suspiciously. The look Walter got when he mentioned his project manager was something new.

“Yes, she is,” Walter smiled his little smile again then added, “And I’m sure you will be too.”

“Thanks,” Tim responded nodding. If his first morning was any indication, he would have his hands full. “I think we worked well together.”

Walter was silent a moment then replied, a note of wonder in his voice, “We do.”

“Of course I don’t have your mental capacity—the calculations you made were amazing—but I look forward to helping out however I can,” Tim leaned back in his seat a took a long breath, suddenly tired from their activities.

Walter nodded, smiled, and turned his attention back to road.

The rest of the drive was pretty uneventful. Tim asked about a few projects Scorpion had done in the past and duly praised their innovative solutions. Walter slowly seemed to be relaxing. Tim could tell that even after all they had been through that morning, Walter wasn’t exactly a sociable person or prone to making friends easily. But Tim was nothing if not determined. He was going to make the most of this opportunity and getting close to Walter seemed to be a good way of doing that. However, if Tim was honest with himself, when he worked with Walter he felt more alive than he had in a long time. It was rare that Tim found someone that he could instinctively trust in crisis situations when the rush of adrenaline was overwhelming and decisions were split-second. Tim turned his head to look at Walter as he very precisely drove them to the garage. There was something wild but brilliant about Walter that Tim couldn’t quite place—he had never met anyone quite like the man who sat beside him. He probably never would again.

Tim turned his eyes back to the road and was overwhelmed by the feeling that his life was suddenly different—that it would never go back to being the same after that morning.

He was okay with that.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know this whole thing seems super disjointed and strange, but next chapter should clear up a lot. Also, it's super long.


	5. Shipwreck

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And here we have the dramatic conclusion to a truly chaotic mess of ships. Everything comes together--I promise! Many thanks to my beta dianalw and I hope you enjoy.
> 
> P.S. I mess with the timeline like it's my own personal plaything--just go with it.

When they finally reached the garage after their morning adventures, Tim got his first glimpse of the rest of the team, recognizing most of them. Quickly, he picked out Happy Quinn, Toby Curtis, and Sylvester Dodd. Happy would be the one sanding something on a work bench; Toby had his head buried in an old psychology book; Sylvester was doing some long calculation on a whiteboard. Tim’s eyes flitted to an older man who definitely looked military by his stance and posture—that must be Cabe Gallo. The strangers were a beautiful woman, a preteen boy, and an athletic-looking man who didn’t seem to fit in with the vibe of the garage. Tim only had a few seconds to glance about, though, because, almost as soon as they walked in, Walter cleared his throat loudly and all eyes trained on him.

“Sorry we’re late, we ran into a delay,” A few people raised their eyebrows at this, and the sight of their rumpled clothes, but Walter lifted his hand as if to say ‘later’ and kept going. “Team, this is Tim Armstrong, the Homeland trainee who will be working with us for some time,” Walter turned to Tim and gestured to the room. “Tim, this is Scorpion.”

The round of introductions went like a whirlwind but everyone seemed nice enough—with the exception of Toby who looked at him suspiciously. Tim made a mental note to address that later. The woman who Tim didn’t recognize smiled warmly and welcomed him to the team, introducing herself as Paige, the famed project manager.

“And this is Ralph, my son. He’s also enabled,” Paige’s hand rested on the boy’s shoulder. The boy gave Tim a short nod and hello before going back to his tablet; Tim could practically feel the chill from Ralph’s cold shoulder. Tim wished he was better with kids. “And this is Drew,” Paige continued, slipping her hand into the athletic man’s hand, “He’s not part of the team, he’s just here this morning.” She smiled fondly up at Drew as he shook Tim’s hand and muttered the normal pleasantries. Tim’s eyebrows raised a little as he nodded at Drew, trying to indicate that he could see that Paige was definitely taken. He wasn’t exactly looking for a relationship anyway—especially not at his new workplace

“So, Tim, about this gap in your employment history,” Toby began from the other side of the garage at the conclusion of all the introductions. Tim took in a breath and prepared himself to explain his Navy Seal past.

Paige, held up her hand and interrupted before Toby could get any further, though. “Let’s talk about that later, Toby.” She paused and glanced up at Drew, affection shining in her eyes. “Drew and I have an announcement first.”

Toby promptly shut up and nodded in approval as the rest of the team gathered to hear the news.

Paige’s face flushed with delight as she and Drew pulled rings out of their pockets and slipped them onto their left hands. “Last night Drew and I got married!” She declared, lifting up their hands for her coworkers to see.

The room erupted into surprised noises and shouts of “Congratulations”. Tim made sure to offer his own well wishes before he noticed one notable exception to the excitement fluttering through the room: Walter. Taking a few steps back to stand next to the man, Tim tried to discreetly observe him from the corner of his vision. Walter was absolutely still, looking stunned, yet also like he was processing something—Tim could practically feel Walter’s brain overheating from whatever was going through it.

“Uhm,” Tim ventured when Walter’s lack of reaction was starting to stretch long. “You okay there, Walter?”

Walter startled at hearing his name and looked suddenly over at Tim as though he hadn’t noticed himself zoning out. “Of course, Tim.” A momentary thoughtful look came over Walter’s face before he plastered on the most fake smile Tim ever had the displeasure of seeing and strode confidently over to the happy couple. Tim watched as Walter shook both their hands and wished them the greatest of happiness in their new life. From there he bustled over to his computer and started in on some project he seemed determined to turn all of his focus onto. Tim wasn’t sure if anyone else had noticed Walter’s zone-out (though by the look on her face, Paige had noticed the emptiness of the congratulations) but the former Navy Seal just shrugged and chalked the whole thing up to the exhausting morning they had just experienced.

* * *

 

Thirty minutes after the nuptial announcement, Tim was finally getting a proper tour of the garage, along with a proper interrogation from Toby.

“Tell me about this mission you got injured in,” Toby asked, tagging along behind Cabe and Tim as Cabe pointed out which of Happy’s inventions to steer clear of.

“That’s classified,” Tim responded, stepping away from a contraption Cabe had declared was ‘electrical, temperamental, and once ate one of Walter’s shoes’.

“You know we’re just going to find out anyway,” Toby insisted, jerking his head toward Sly and Walter at work on their computers.

“Well, it won’t be from me,” Tim retorted, wondering if any part of his life was going to stay private over the next few months. Cabe finished the tour in the kitchen area, pointing out the coffee and snacks.

“How many people did you beat up in high scho--” Toby’s words were blessedly cut off by Walter’s voice calling for Paige and Drew to come receive their wedding present from him. Curious, Tim, Toby, and Cabe stopped their conversation and stepped around to see what the genius had prepared so quickly.

Walter was standing proudly in front of his desk, a small stack of papers in his hand. Paige and Drew walked up hand in hand, and Tim noticed something akin to concern mixed in with Paige’s polite curiosity. Drew just looked pleased, and a little confused.

“Since you so quickly got… married,” Walter said ‘married’ like it was foreign on his tongue. “I deduced that you likely didn’t have time to plan a honeymoon. So I’ve planned one for you.”

Tim noticed an apprehensive look pass between the couple as his own brow furrowed. Wasn’t it a bit intrusive and presumptuous to plan another couple’s honeymoon? Normally Tim might have commented but it was his first day and he had yet to learn the team dynamics so he bit his tongue and settled for just raising an eyebrow, and crossing his arms comfortably across his chest.

“Wal-” Paige began but was cut off by Walter raising his hand.

“Scorpion is footing the bill. You and Drew are going to St. Paul, France. I have a flight booked for you tomorrow morning,” Walter grinned and held out the papers to the couple.

Paige took the stack but her brow furrowed when she looked at them, “This is for three weeks, Walter!”

Walter held up a finger, “Longer, if you’d like—the tickets are flexible. Ralph can stay with me or Sly or we can alternate.”

Paige opened her mouth to speak again but then Drew start to rub slow circles in her back and whispered a few things in her ear that seemed to calm her down. Biting her lip, Paige turned back to Walter, took a deep breath, and said more or less calmly, “What about Scorpion? How are you going to get by without me?”

Walter waved it off. “Don’t worry about Scorpion. We’ll be fine… after all,” He looked around for a minute and his eyes fell on Tim. “Tim’s here! He can take over for you while you’re gone. Right, Tim?”

Tim blinked in surprise but quickly recovered. Project management was something he was trained in while he was in the Seals. “Sure, Walter. Paige, you should go and enjoy your honeymoon.”

“Can you give us a minute to talk?” Drew asked politely, leading a flustered Paige away to one of the many semi-secluded parts of the garage without waiting for a response. A quick move of Drew’s hand and Ralph followed along behind them, seemingly to be part of the discussion.

An awkward silence fell over the room as Happy and Sly quickly went back to their work and Toby sauntered over to Walter, a knowing look in his face. Tim couldn’t help the inward sigh of relief that Toby was focused on someone else.

Toby approached Walter slowly and kept his tone gentle, “Walter, it’s obvious what you’re doing. You’re uncomfortable with Paige and Drew’s marriage so you’re sending them to France to get rid of them for a while. This isn’t healthy, you know.”

Walter looked at Toby incredulously. “That’s ludicrous. I’m simply gifting a friend a wedding present. Paige does a lot for this company, she deserves some time off.”

“But St. Paul, France? Don’t pretend that you aren’t aware that it’s literally the furthest city in the world from L.A.” Toby’s tone got a touch sharper as his eyes narrowed. Tim took a step back from the conversation but took a seat where he could still see what was going on. Might as well learn the team dynamics now.

Walter sighed. “I don’t understand why you are so insistent, Toby. You hate Drew more than anyone. I thought you’d be happy to have him so far away.”

Toby paused and bit his lip in thought for a minute before responding. “Walter, Drew’s going to be around now and we’re going to have to get used to it. Granted, he abandoned his child, but he’s really trying. Giving up something he loves as much as baseball couldn’t have been easy.”

“What are you saying, Toby?” This time it was Walter’s eyes that narrowed.

Toby shrugged. “I’m saying that we should maybe try giving him the benefit of the doubt. Cut him some slack.”

“So now you’re on Drew’s side?”

Toby took his hat off and ran his fingers through his curls. “I’m on Paige and Ralph’s side and right now that means being on Drew’s side too, so yes, in a way I am on Drew’s side. And I think what you’re doing is immature.”

“Drew abandoned his family. He doesn’t deserve to have anyone on his side,” Walter said quietly.

“Everyone makes mistakes, Walter,” Toby insisted. “Paige has found it within herself to see past that and, no matter how much it’s killing you that she’s with someone else, you should try to see Drew as a person too. One that you’ll have to be around sometimes.”

“It’s not ‘killing me’ that Paige is with someone else. Drew is an unwanted presence in this office and an all around disagreeable person,” Tim could see that Walter was floundering a little.

“Walt,” Toby took a deep breath and lowered his tone. “They’re married. That’s it. It’s over. I’d love you to join all of us in trying to make sure this works out for the sake of Paige and Ralph but, if not, at least have the decency not to actively try to sabotage it. For Ralph’s sake. He got his father back. Don’t ruin it for him.”

Walter fell silent for a long moment. Tim wished he could have read Walter’s mind because it looked like whatever was passing through it was of great importance—possibly to Toby’s well-being. After a good 45 seconds, Toby waved his hand in front of Walter’s face, seemingly trying to break him out of his trance. “197? You there?”

Walter snapped his head and suddenly smiled a strange sort of smile at Toby. Tim’s breath caught when he glimpsed the look in Walter’s eyes. Gone was the coldly calculating gaze that belonged to the man Tim had saved lives with that morning and in its place was a strange sort of mania that vaguely reminded Tim of the look an old army buddy got in his eyes right before doing something really reckless. Instinctively, Tim felt all his muscles tense as he held his breath, waiting to react to whatever came next.

“I’m fine. Thank you for informing me of your thoughts on the matter. In unrelated news, we got a job offer come in this morning to profile the proposed head of a new bank near Cape Horn, Chile.” To Tim’s surprise, although the unsettling expression on Walter’s face stayed the same, his voice was steady. Calm even. This concerned Tim all the more. He suddenly felt like he didn’t know Walter at all.

“Oh, okay,” Toby looked a little whip-lashed by Walter’s sudden change of subject but went with it. Tim figured that if this was Walter acting erratically his employee felt no need to exacerbate it. “Tell them to send us some tapes and I’ll take a look.”

“Oh, no,” Walter said, stepping back around his desk and sitting again at his computer. “This sort of thing is most accurately done in person. You’re going.”

“To Chile? We’re going to South American just to profile a new bank employee?” Toby asked incredulously.

“No, of course not,” Walter said briskly and Toby started to let out a sigh of relief when Walter added, “You’re going alone.”

“What?” Toby’s jaw dropped.

Walter shrugged as he sat at his desk started typing away on his computer “It’s really only profiling so there’s no use for the rest of us. It’s more efficient to send you alone.”

“But Cape Horn’s cold, wet, windy, and really, really far. Are you telling me that I’m going to have to fly 7,000 miles just to profile a single man?”

“6,900 miles, actually,” Walter corrected and Toby rolled his eyes. “But sending you even 6,900 miles for a single profile _would_ be a waste of resources.” Toby shot a skeptical look at Walter before his boss continued. “The company has been having trouble with some embezzlement and they suspect their lower-level employees so I’m offering Scorpion’s service in weeding out the troublemakers. The company employs a couple of thousand people so you could be there for--”

“Months!” Toby finished. “No way, Walter. I’m not spending months in South America. This is ridiculous.”

“I thought you’d be pleased that I trust you to do this alone. In any case, you’re my employee; your ticket is already booked,” He moved his screen so Toby could see the ticket confirmation displayed on it. “You leave this evening.” At this Tim closed his eyes briefly and braced himself. Apparently Walter’s version of a fire fight was torturing his employees. In the back of his mind, Tim wondered if it would happen to him and what he could do to make sure it didn’t.

Toby seemed to be having an intense inward struggle if his clenching and unclenching fits were any indication, but finally he sighed and responded and little calmer than before, “At least send Happy with me. I don’t think I can be that long without her without losing my mind.”

“That would be inefficient,” Walter shook his head no.

Toby threw his hands up, all semblance of calm gone, “I don’t care about efficiency, Happy is the love of my life and I certainly am not going to South America for _months_ without her.”

Walter’s expression went cold and even Tim felt a shiver go down his spine. “Maybe your new friend Drew can commiserate with you seeing as he has so much practice leaving people.”

Toby leaned slowly across the desk to look Walter straight in the eye. “You’re doing this to get back at me for defending Drew?”

Walter opened his mouth in was Tim was sure was going to be a protest when Paige, Drew, and Ralph walked back over and he snapped his mouth shut, looking at Paige expectantly. She had a small smile on her face and she held the confirmation papers like she was going to keep them.

“We’ve decided to accept your generous gift with one stipulation,” Drew began, draping his arm around Ralph’s shoulders. “Ralph comes with us.” Drew raised his hand as if expecting to be interrupted. “We can pay his way. But we’ve just become a proper family. We’re not separating anytime soon.”

Walter was silent a moment, looking down at Ralph with a touch of something that Tim guessed was sadness. Then the man’s eyes snapped back at the couple and he said, “Okay, fine. But Scorpion will pay for Ralph’s ticket too. He’s a member of the cyclone.” At this he smiled at Ralph who grinned back. “I’ll send a list of nearby science museums and observatories."

“Thanks, Walter, this is really...” Paige paused a minute and seemed to think better of whatever she had been about to say. “Thanks. It’s… really nice of you."

Walter gave a short nod, “You’ve been a good employee. Have fun in France.”

Tim’s brow furrowed at the past tense Walter used but Paige didn’t seem to notice as she smiled sweetly at her new husband. Within a few minutes they had gathered Ralph’s things and were on their way home to pack.

Paige shook Tim’s hand as she left, “It was nice to meet you, Tim. The filing system is pretty self-explanatory; Walter knows most of it if you need help. Just… keep the team from turning everyone into an enemy and you’ll be fine.” For a second she looked guilty, mouthing ‘good luck’, before she was distracted by Drew putting his hand on her back to lead her out to the car.

Tim watched the door slam behind the family and turned slowly to look at Walter, who had also watched them leave, a pained expression momentarily replacing his mania. Tim’s eyes surveyed the rest of the garage. Toby was at his own desk, fuming. Sylvester looked so anxious at all the proceedings that Tim wouldn’t be surprised if he exploded any minute. Happy was banging loudly over in her work area. Cabe was nowhere to be seen. Paige had been described by Cabe as ‘the glue’ of the team in Tim’s phone interview—someone who calmed and united everyone. And now Paige was gone and Tim was expected to take her place. Tim took a deep breath. How hard could this be?

* * *

 

Tim had just opened the first drawer of a filing cabinet to familiarize himself with the contents with Toby walked by, calling him over.

“Jock-boy, I need to see you for a minute,” Toby was walking to another part of the garage and didn’t stop to see if Tim was coming.

Sighing, Tim followed and found Toby standing next to an old metal cabinet. He opened the rusty door to display a chart on the inside of the door. The colored rectangles on it were arranged like a nuclear threat level chart. Written across the top was the word “Waltcon”.

“This is a chart that Happy and I made to keep track of Walter’s floundering EQ. Green means all normal—that’s never been achieved. Blue is where he’s been lately due to Paige’s efforts—Socially Passable. With the whole honeymoon/sending me to South America stunt he pulled today he’s definitely at least at yellow—Rude and Clueless. Your job will be trying to keep him away from the orange zone—Communication Breakdown.” Toby pointed to each part of the chart. He paused before he got to the bottom section: red-Down the Rabbit Hole. “Yeah, let’s hope you don’t need to know this but beyond orange into red Walter becomes nuclear and it’s really hard to pull him out. At that point it might be better to just pull out and wait for reinforcements.”

Tim’s eyebrows knit together. This really didn’t fit with the man he met that morning. “I’m sure I won’t need this. Walter seems pretty reasonable.”

Toby laughed and patted Tim on the shoulder, “You have a lot to learn, intern. Good luck.”

And with that Toby left, leaving Tim staring at the Waltcon chart and wondering what sort of world he’d gotten himself involved in.

* * *

 

Tim pulled open the door to the garage and balanced a couple paper bags in his other hand. The morning had been pretty tense—and he had been a little disturbed by Toby’s talk—so he had offered to go pick up Chinese and ice cream for lunch, hoping that food and sugar would help ease the unease. When he left, Walter had applauded his ‘efficiency’ and ‘work ethic’, so Tim made a mental note to do things like this more often. Setting the food on the table, Tim turned to address the room when he overheard Walter’s agitated voice speaking from another part of the garage. Glancing over at Sylvester who was sitting stone still at his desk, Tim immediately deduced that this was a conversation that they were not meant to hear.

“Megan, no,” Walter’s voice was strained, trying to keep quiet but failing. “You can’t do this. You’re not doing this…. But it’s _Cabe_ , Megan. _Cabe…._ Yes, of course I want you to be happy but this is a bad idea. As your brother, I forbid it….. _Please…._ No, I don’t want to talk about it…. Fine. See you next Friday.”

Tim quickly turned his attention to unpacking the food when Walter came into view, shoving his phone into his pocket and looking around, a firm look on his face.

“Where’s Cabe?” Walter said, his voice low, dangerous, and directed at Sylvester.

“In the kitchen, I think,” The mathematician squeaked out.

Walter made to go toward the kitchen when Tim, sensing violence in the air, quickly said, “I found that fermented fish you like.”

Walter turned, his concentration somewhat broken, “Oh. Tim. Thanks.” He nodded, took a few steps, looked back at Tim thoughtfully, nodded again, then continued to the kitchen, this time slowly.

The following conversation was not hard to hear in any part of the garage.

“Cabe, I just got off the phone with my sister.”

“Now, before you say anything, Walter, I want to--”

“I don’t care to hear your explanations. You will stop seeing my sister immediately.”

“Now, son, you talked to Megan; you know I can’t do that.”

“You can and will. I thought you cared about me.”

“I do. And I care about her too. So, no, Walter. I will not stop. I love her.”

At this Sly let out a little gasp as their theories were confirmed: Cabe was dating Walter’s sister. Silence stretched for a good 20 seconds before Cabe’s voice could barely be heard.

“Walter…?"

“Toby’s going to Chile tonight.”

“Okay… what does this have to do with...”

“You’re going with him. It could be dangerous. South American governments are notably corrupt.”

“Now, Walter, if this is your way of getting rid of me, remember that I work for homeland, not you.”

“Chilean banks are of importance to the U.S.; I’ll make a request—they’ll send you. And would you really deny Toby the protection that he needs?”

“Now, hold on a minute--”

“The matter is settled. Your flight’s at 6:30 tonight. Pack heavy—it’s a long assignment.”

Before Cabe could say anything Walter exited the kitchen, brushing by Tim as he headed to the food Tim had brought. Cabe appeared a moment later, walking slowly and thoughtfully.

“Okay, kid,” Cabe finally said. “I’ll give you the cool-off time you want but when I get back you had better have your head on straighter.” He looked over at Tim. “Don’t let them take any dangerous jobs while I’m gone—they’ll get themselves killed. I’ll leave word with homeland to run cases through you.”

Tim nodded. At least that part of the job seemed pretty straightforward. He hadn’t counted on so many members of Scorpion leaving the country on the very day he arrived, but you don’t become a Navy Seal without being able to take whatever gets thrown at you. “Sure thing, Cabe. I’ll take care of things here.”

“Undoubtedly. I discovered today that Tim is extremely competent and versatile.” Walter noted from his seat at the table, already eating his fish. “Toby’s already left to pack—I would advise you do the same,” he added, looking pointedly at Cabe until the older man sighed and left.

Stepping around to sit next to Walter, Tim opened his own container of food and said a silent prayer not to get on Walter’s bad side. “Finding out that Cabe is dating your sister has to be rough,” Tim ventured, glancing over at the dark-haired man. “I know that I would be furious if I found out that one of my friends was dating my sister without asking me. ...Especially considering the age difference.”

Walter’s hands slowed over his food a moment before he looked up at Tim, an unreadable expression on his face. “Thank you, Tim,” he said slowly then opened his mouth as if to say something else, seemed to think better of it, and returned to his food.

* * *

 

Tim had pegged Sylvester as the nervous type but this was a little ridiculous. The man was literally shaking as he tried to eat his ice cream and he kept looking at the empty desks around him and biting his lower lip. Sly had been much calmer when Tim had met him earlier that day so he guessed that this was abnormal—possibly brought on by all the changes that were happening in the garage. During lunch Walter and Tim had explained their morning adventures and Sly had seemed okay then but now something was definitely on his mind. Someone should talk to him and try to calm him down… Tim sat up straighter and shook his head as he suddenly realized that _someone_ was going to have to be him. With Paige gone, Tim had to take her duties seriously.

So, standing up from where he was finishing his Mongolian beef, Tim made his way over to Sly. “Hey, buddy, how’s it going?”

“Not well,” Sly replied, dropping his fork into his lunch and looking up at Tim. “Scorpion doesn’t function very well without all of Scorpion present. Especially Paige.”

“Paige really helps keep you guys steady, huh?”

“More than that,” Tim’s head whipped around at Happy’s voice coming from behind him as she joined them at Sylvester’s desk. “Paige keeps _Walter_ from going off the deep end.”

Tim thought back to the nigh insane expression that had made its home on Walter’s face right before he sent Toby off to Chili. Was Toby right? With Paige absent was Walter going off the deep end?

“Cabe’s important too,” Sly added. “He keeps Walter in check, not to mention that he’s saved all of our lives on multiple occasions.”

“And it’s not like we’re going to be able to profile anyone worth a flip without the doc here,” Happy added dismally.

They all suddenly fell silent as Walter stepped into the room and made his way over to them. Sly stood up from his chair and started fidgeting again.

“What are you all talking about?” Walter asked, trying to sound casual.

Happy pursed her lips and raised an eyebrow as Sly looked away after nodding slightly at Tim, as if giving him permission to talk. After a moments hesitation, Tim decided to discuss their reservations with the boss. “Happy and Sylvester were just telling me how valuable Paige, Cabe and Toby are to the team.”

Walter blinked, “They all brought certain skills that are necessary to the proper functioning of the team, that’s correct. But I have no doubt that we’ll get on just fine with you, Tim, as a replacement.”

“For all three?” Sly blurted out then shrunk back a little as Walter turned his intense gaze on the mathematician.

“Yes, for all three. Just think about it: Tim is basically a younger, stronger version of Cabe; this morning he proved that he can talk to regular people just as well as Paige can; and he’s very observant like Toby. I’m sure Tim can take over all their jobs perfectly—possibly even better than when we had all of them here. It’s more efficient! Economical!”

Walter’s voice got louder and louder as his passionate speech continued and Tim noticed Sly ever so slowly starting to move behind Happy. It was almost comical to see the big man trying to hide behind the petite mechanic but as Walter continued ranting—going on about Tim’s strength and resourcefulness—Tim began to understand the impulse. Glancing over to the Waltcon chart in the corner of the garage, Tim noticed that someone had moved Walter’s marker to defcon orange.

* * *

 

“You need a desk!” Walter suddenly declared pointing decisively at Tim. Walter’s earlier rant had eventually died down and they had taken to working on their own projects: Sly on some ridiculously long math equation, Happy on a delicate piece of machinery, Walter on his computer, and Tim trying to figure out the filing system. Walter’s sudden outburst made Tim jump from where he was looking over a few of their recent case files.

“Oh, I’m fine, I can just-” Tim began, trying to motion to the table which he was certain would do.

“No way! What kind of boss doesn’t give his employee a desk? You can have Paige’s,” Walter immediately went to her desk and began packing her things into a box.

“But where will Paige sit…?” Tim squinted at his new boss. The crazy look was back in his eyes as he hurriedly stuffed her pictures and nick-knacks into a copy-paper box.

Walter perked up and grinned, as though he had just had a brilliant idea. “Elevator shaft. She’ll get her own office!”

“O-okay,” Tim looked around the garage and spotted what Walter was referring to. “That’s, uhm, a little out of the way.”

“She’s always complaining about too much noise—it’ll be quieter in there! Logical!” Walter was already putting her things in the small room. “She should think of it as a promotion. I don’t even have my own office.” Walter’s grin was large and the slightest bit unnerving. Tim tried not to look at Walter directly. His instincts were screaming for him to duck and cover but Tim held his ground. Walter was one man. Tim could handle this… right?

* * *

 

Tim sat at his new desk trying again to focus on reading the case files. Unfortunately, though, the universe seemed to be working against him as he was distracted by Walter’s indignant huff. Tim turned to see Walter texting furiously on his phone and muttering to himself about know-it-all psychiatrists and no second chances. Slamming down his phone on his desk, Walter’s face took on what Tim now mentally called his “Zoned Out Crazy” look. After about a minute, Walter snapped out of it as his gaze focused intently on Tim.

“Tim, I just had an epiphany,” Walter bustled over to Tim, some sort of manic excitement playing across his features. “What’s better than one desk?” He didn’t wait for Tim to try to respond. “Two desks!” At this he began pushing Toby’s desk over perpendicular to Paige’s desk to make a cornered work station.

“Wow, Walter,” Tim’s eyebrows came together in confusion for the umpteenth time that day. “Uhm, doesn’t Toby need his desk?”

“Toby profiles _people_ ,” Walter explained, sweeping Toby’s things into some boxes and adjusting the second desk next to Tim. “He doesn’t need a desk.”

Tim watched in stunned silence as Walter pushed all Toby’s belongings to a corner of the garage and carelessly stacked them. Standing up, he wordlessly helped Walter move some of the heavier items.

Once all of Toby’s things were removed from the desk, Walter continued. “Additionally, two desks is simply more efficient. See,” He sat down in the office chair to demonstrate. “Over here you can do computer work.” He swiveled to the computer that sat on Paige’s desk. “And over here you can do paperwork.” He swiveled to the other side.

Tim paused then nodded slowly. No point in exacerbating whatever it was Walter was going through. “Okay, thanks boss. As long as you don’t think Paige or Toby will mind when they get back.”

“Oh, they’ll be fine,” Walter flapped his hand dismissively. “Paige and Toby were never irreplaceable anyway.”

“’Were’...” Tim frowned at the word choice but decided not to push it. Instead he found a moment to step over to Toby’s suddenly very-not-ridiculous chart and move Walter down to defcon red.

* * *

 

Sylvester tried to make himself as small as possible as he huddled under his desk. If Walter couldn’t see him, maybe he would forget that he existed for a moment or two. After giving Tim two desks and half of Paige’s office supplies, Walter had declared that it was high time for a new team photo and shuffled them all in front of the sign. If Sly had been any less terrified he might have found the photo comical: Walter’s arm was chummily wrapped around Tim’s shoulders and a giant grin lit up his face. Tim looked a little uncomfortable but not nearly as uncomfortable as Sly did, half-hidden behind a scowling Happy. Walter had immediately made it the background on everyone’s desktop and was now bustling around— loudly trying to find the materials to make a frame for a print copy. After Walter let out a couple of yells about how disorganized the place was and quite a few choice items flew across the garage, Happy joined Sly under his desk.

“Have you ever seen Walter like this?” Sylvester’s voice was small and hushed as he crouched next to Happy.

“No, never,” Happy replied, a look in her eyes that Sly wanted to say was fear. But it couldn’t be. Happy was never afraid. “I’ve seen him down the rabbit hole, muttering to himself, lost in work for weeks on end, unresponsive, but this,” Happy continued quietly. “This is some sort of crazy nuthouse mania I’ve never seen before. Especially not from Walter. He’s like a runaway race car with no steering control.”

“What do we do?” Sly asked, wincing as another one of Toby’s books was tossed into the growing stack in the corner.

“I wish I knew,” Happy paused then muttered even lower. “I wish Toby was here.”

“Well, given what Walter is doing to his belongings, I think it’s best that he’s as far away as possible.”

“Maybe so,” Happy replied, huffing under her breath. “Where is Mr. Mighty-Replacement man, then?”

“Walter has him out buying friendship bracelets or something equally as terrifying.” Sly squirmed around so he could turn and look at Happy. “You were the one who pulled Walter out of the rabbit hole before—do you think anything you did then would help now?”

Happy shook her head. “Not likely. Back then I mostly just got him away from Collins and made sure he stayed alive. I don’t think that’ll work here. I don’t think there’s anything we can do.”

Sly’s breath caught and his mind started going a mile a minute. If there was nothing they could do, Scorpion was in grave danger. It couldn’t be the end of Scorpion. This was the best place he’d ever been. The only place that felt like home. There had to be something they could do. There had to be!

“Whoa, there, buddy,” Happy’s voice cut through Sylvester’s panic. “We’re gonna be okay. Maybe Walter just needs time or something.”

“But maybe not! Maybe Scorpion is over!”

“Sly, take a breather,” Happy placed her hand on Sylvester’s shoulder as best she could in their cramped space. “We’re going to be okay no matter what.”

“Of course you’re going to be fine,” Sly whispered fiercely. “But I don’t do so well by myself!”

“You won’t be!” Happy whispered back harshly then consciously softened her tone. “Look. No matter what happens we’re still a family. Toby and I won’t leave you on your own.”

Sly blinked slowly at Happy. “Really?”

Happy nodded, “Promise. Now, I think Walter’s gone to the bathroom so let’s find a better hiding place, ‘kay?”

Sly smiled, suddenly feeling much better. “Okay, Happy. Let’s go.”

* * *

 

Tim couldn’t take it anymore. His hand shook as he penned a letter to homeland:

 

_...I am fully aware of the phenomenal work this team has done for the government and the world as a whole. However, I am writing to request reassignment to another temporary post. Any post. Within mere hours of my arrival, the majority of the team has left on assignment or vacation. Those still at the garage seem to be hiding from Walter O’Brien. While a capable and obviously brilliant asset, Mr. O’Brien’s mental state has slowly disintegrated as the day has continued due, I believe, to a number of distressing events in his personal life. His reaction to the events has included, but is not limited to: attempting to transfer to my possession the desks and belongings of the absent team members, framing an oversized photo of those still at the garage and putting it above his desk, and, most recently, designing a tattoo of “Walter &Tim: Friends Forever” in binary._

_I have seen saner people throw themselves on grenades in empty fields._ _I fear for my safety if I am to remain with Scorpion. Any reassignment will do._

 

“Hey, Timbo! I came up with a secret handshake!”

Tim winced and added one more line before closing his letter.

 

_Please, please. I felt safer staring down the barrel of a gun in Djibouti._

_Awaiting rescue,_

_Tim Armstrong_

* * *

 

Bringing his letter to the post (email was too risky with Walter around) Tim stopped by the Waltcon chart one more time, just long enough to stick a bright purple post-it underneath the red section and secure it with the marker. On it he had scrawled a new defcon level, summarized in one word:

Run.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Probably my first real attempt at crack--what do you think? I started it as a way to shove all my weird ship ideas together and am pretty happy with how it turned out. Definitely the most cringy and strange thing I've ever written but the fandom doesn't have that much weirdness so I'm happy to contribute to the vacuum!


End file.
